33. Emphasises that, while calling for Community law on retail financial services, always to aim for very high standards of consumer protection, all market operators - including consumers and investors - need to be fully aware of the basic financial market principle that any opportunity for a higher return is reflected by a higher risk, and that risk is an indispensable element of any functioning financial market; stresses, further, that a good compromise between a high level of consumer protection and flawlessly functioning internal market mechanisms should be sought; takes the view that the Commission should encourage national initia ...[+++]tives which impart an understanding of finance, in order to ensure an accurate grasp of the 'risk-return' principle and the specific characteristics of financial instruments;

The Common Basic Principles assist Member States in formulating integration policies by offering them a thoughtful guide of basic principles against which they can judge and assess their own efforts.

5. Emphasises that most SGEIs are supplied in the internal market and are therefore, as a matter of principle, subject to internal market, public procurement, competition and State aid rules and Commission supervision as regards any abuses, without prejudice to the fact that the application of the rules must not obstruct the performance, in law or in fact, of the particular tasks assigned to the SGEIs, as provided in Article 86(2) of the EC Treaty; emphasises that, in accordance with Article 16 of the EC Treaty, which concerns SGEIs, the Community and Member States are respo ...[+++]nsible, within their respective competence, for ensuring that they operate on the basis of principles and conditions that enable them to fulfil their missions;

55. Recalls Title V (Article 89) of the New Financial Regulation which states that "all public contracts .. shall comply with the principles of transparency, proportionality, equal treatment and non-discrimination" and that all procurement contracts shall, as a rule, "be put out to tender on the broadest possible base"; points out that, according to experts, the failure to issue or the manipulation of invitations to tender in resp ...[+++]ect of public contracts can lead to substantial additional costs to the European taxpayer;

4. Calls upon the Commission to ensure that the emphasis on public procurement is not detrimental to recipient countries when the principle of untying is applied; stresses that the Commission’s proposal to insert in the instruments by which aid is granted a clause on public procurement award procedures must include advice to the countries concerned to apply the underlying principles of transparency, equal treatment, proportionalit ...[+++]y and mutual recognition; stresses, however, that this must not constitute an obligation for recipient countries to transpose European directives on public procurement into their national legislation;

The point of departure is equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities for everybody and integration permeates all policy areas and should be implemented in the everyday operations of all sectors of society.